Unmade announces Maersk Growth investment

London-based fashion and sportswear software company, Unmade has announced it has received new investment from Maersk Growth, the corporate venture arm of the global leader in transport and logistics, A.P. Moller – Maersk.

The investment will be used to help the company in three critical areas: smart logistics, enabled trade and sustainable supply chain, explained Unmade, with particular support for the development and deployment of UnmadeOS, which is used by the world’s leading fashion and sportswear brands to connect consumer demand directly to production.

Sustainability within the fashion industry is a key issue, with systemic overproduction, unsold stock and outdated business models based on mass production, with poor linkages between production cycles and consumer demand driving an estimated 500 billion US dollars in annual industry losses, and a meaningful impact on global CO2 emissions explains Unmade in a statement.

They add that this new investment from Maersk will help it achieve its vision to be more “responsive, flexible and sustainable”.

Unmade OS allows fashion and sportswear brands to address this issue directly, increasing the responsiveness, flexibility and sustainability of the fashion supply chain.

Unmade received investment to support its mission to connect Demand to Production at leading fashion and sportswear brands

Maersk Growth’s backing follows recent investment from Octopus Ventures and MMC Ventures.

Oliver Finch, investor at Maersk Growth, said: “We are delighted to support Unmade and its emergent industry innovation. The business is on an exciting trajectory to enhance the fashion supply chain with improved flexibility and reduced waste.

“This fits well with Maersk’s long-term vision around end to end integrated container logistics – to develop and support meaningful and integrated engagement in supply chain to address real industry challenges for our customers”

Hal Watts, chief executive and co-founder of Unmade, added: “We’re looking to work with even more global fashion and sportswear brands that aspire to become demand-driven or need to realise the true potential of their iconic products in innovative ways.

“Gaining investment and additional support from Maersk Growth will help us achieve this ambition, faster. Successful brands in fashion and sportswear will not only connect products and experiences, but also connect demand to production. UnmadeOS is the operating platform that enables this to happen immediately.”

Maersk Growth was founded with a clear purpose - to shape the future of trade by acting as a catalyst for the next generation of industry innovators, by driving transformation in trade and logistics.

Finch, added: “Maersk Growth invested in Unmade to support the team’s ongoing innovation in production in fashion and sportswear, reducing waste across the supply chain. Brands that work with Unmade unlock the benefits of becoming more adaptive, responsive and efficient.

“Sustainability is a global aspiration, and manufacturing and logistics ventures have a meaningful role to play in addressing environmental, societal and operational challenges. Together with Unmade, we share a goal of enabling a more dynamic, sustainable and integrated future of trade.”

UnmadeOS is an operating platform that enables fashion and sportswear brands to realise the full potential of their products. The platform unlocks market opportunity for brands through transformative product development, product design and manufacturing efficiencies. Key to this transformation is UnmadeOS’s ability to directly connect customer demand to production.

Unmade works with global fashion and sportswear brands, most notably New Balance and Rapha, and has had notable collaborations with Farfetch, Opening Ceremony and Christopher Raeburn.

Images: courtesy of Unmade